Most Canadians believe the Stephen Harper government is failing to protect the environment, poll suggests

OTTAWA — A majority of Canadians believe the Harper government is doing a poor job of protecting the nation’s environment, suggests a new poll conducted for Postmedia News and Global Television.

The Ipsos Reid survey suggests that 61 per cent of Canadians disagree with the statement “the Harper government is doing a good job at protecting Canada’s environment.”

It found that Canadians living in the Prairie provinces and in Ontario were most likely to approve of the federal government’s green track record, while residents in Quebec, Atlantic Canada and British Columbia were the least impressed.

Ipsos Reid senior vice-president John Wright said the numbers are no surprise, but should not be interpreted as a sign that Canadians put environmental issues at the top of their list of priorities.

“This government has not had a green glow about it from the moment it took office,” Wright said. “But the priority shifted five years ago where everything became about managing the economy and ensuring that the fragile nature of it was going to be nurtured.”

The survey also found that 63 per cent of Canadians disagree with the statement “the Harper government has struck the right balance between economic growth and environmental protection and management.”

The poll was conducted using an online panel of 1,021 Canadians from Dec. 7 to Dec. 12 and is considered accurate within 3.5 percentage points for the national numbers, with higher margins of error for regional breakdowns.

Nearly three out of four Quebecers questioned, or 74 per cent, said they did not believe the Harper government was doing a good job of protecting the environment. Sixty-six per cent of Atlantic Canadians and 63 per cent of British Columbians also gave the Tories poor marks.

Alberta was the only province where a majority of residents surveyed said they approved of the government’s handling of the environment, with 55 per cent saying they agreed the Tories are protecting the environment. Of the Albertans who gave the government a nod of approval, 11 per cent “strongly agreed” it was doing a good job, and 44 per cent “somewhat agreed.”

Elsewhere in the West, 55 per cent of respondents in Manitoba and Saskatchewan disapproved of the government’s record, while 58 per cent disapproved in Ontario.

Wright said that the numbers are not necessarily bad news for the government when taken in the context of other surveys, which show Canadians are optimistic about the nation’s economic prospects.

“The bottom line is if the government hasn’t found the balance (between the economy and the environment), maybe that’s an acknowledgment of fact as opposed to a criticism,” Wright said.